differences between rubygem guard and grunt.js?

Question

Besides the obvious language architecture differences (respectively ruby vs. nodejs) are there any differences between the rubygem guard and grunt.js? Or am i wrong comparing the two. Are they dissimilar?

Also, which project has a larger development community?

Viper

Answer 1

Guard and Grunt perform similar functions, but differ in the ways they are triggered. Guard is based on watching files for certain events, while Grunt is based on running 'tasks' based on if certain events occur. The only real differences are the language, and how to run code based on file events and such.

As for the Guard/Grunt communities, they are virtually equal but utilize different Ruby/Node.js tools. Both are great tools. Just use Guard if you use Ruby/Rails, and Grunt if you use Node.

Neurogenic

Thanks that was most helpful! – Viper

I think you could also say that Grunt is like Guard and Rake combined in a single package. – Beaudry

@Beaudry That pretty much sums it up. – Neurogenic

I would disagree about community size. Grunt appears much more active. You can use Grunt with Rails perfectly happily for watching, linting, building and livereloading. – Stairs